Your Turn
by Artemius
Summary: Set after RC. A lot has changed for Rose and Lissa. But they can still count on each other.
1. Chapter 1

ADRIAN's POV

The blindfold came off and I took in our surroundings. Sterile room, industrial lighting, no windows. Even if I hadn't seen the tattoos on our kidnappers' cheeks I would have known who took us. This had Alchemist written all over it. We'd heard that some of them had started working with the Warriors of Light and were going after Moroi as well as Strigoi, but I'd been content to let others handle the investigation.

So content that I'd actually laughed at Jill when she asked if I was afraid of the rogue Alchemists coming after us. Since a group of them had busted into our dinner party and taken us captive, it didn't feel like such a joke.

The man who'd untied my blindfold walked in front of us and headed down the line to Jill. "The queen never wanted a sister," he told her. "She only kept you under protection because she needed you to keep her throne. Now that she has changed the law, she doesn't care for you anymore."

I hated to agree with anything that the Alchemists were saying, but our captor did have a point. Lissa had gone to an awful lot of trouble to keep Jill safe and hidden while the law demanded that their ruler have at least one living relative, which had the unfortunate side effect of keeping the newly discovered sisters apart. Since getting the law changed, Lissa had made strides to accept Jill as family, but they were still far from comfortable around each other. What lengths would the queen of the Moroi world go to in order to recover the undeniable proof of her beloved father's infidelity?

Under normal conditions, and yes, being held captive sadly came under the heading of normal in my world, the queen's strained relationship with her sister would be the least of our worries right now. After all, being abducted by a group of rogue Alchemists who seemed determined to drive a wedge through Moroi society was a little more important than Jill and Lissa resolving their feelings. When that wedge was pointed right between the two of them, however, their relationship suddenly became paramount.

Not to mention, as much as I hated to admit it, being rescued was our best way out of this mess. I was still on the pills that kept my moods level and my sanity in place, but it also kept spirit out of my reach. This was exactly the type of situation that I dreaded and why it had taken me so long to agree to taking the mood suppressants in the first place. My loved ones were in danger and I was useless. So, unfortunately, was the rest of our group.

Jill was wise beyond her years and one of the most admirable people I knew, but she wasn't going to be able to get us out of here. Eddie could always be counted on in a tough time, but he had fought long and hard while we were being taken and was not looking his best. He was straining against the restraints holding him to the chair, but I didn't think that he was going to break free anytime soon.

And Sydney, brave, passionate, brilliant Sydney was just barely keeping her terror at bay. This was her worst nightmare come to life. Even after all the risks she had taken and the deal she had blackmailed Stanton into, she found herself retaken by her former organization. Remembering those long months that she had been held in their re-education center was still painful for me. For her, it was unbearable. Though there was no one else I found more reliable in a crisis, I could tell that my wife was going to need time in order to pull herself together. Time, I was afraid, that we didn't have.

The Alchemist continued his taunting, aimed mostly at Jill, though I wasn't sure what he hoped to accomplish by turning her against her sister. "Vasalissa doesn't care if you're alive or dead," he sneered. "Do you think she'd waste valuable resources coming after a couple of abominations?"

That would by Sydney and me, by the way. We were abominations. At least, most people thought we were. Humans and Moroi may have intermarried at one point in history to create the dhampirs, a half breed race that made superior warriors in the fight against Strigoi, but it hadn't been an acceptable practice in centuries. For a royal like myself to actually marry a human was disgusting in both of our cultures. I loved her enough to stand up under it, and honestly didn't care what the Alchemists thought of our relationship, except at the moment they did hold all the power over us.

"And you," he turned his attention back to Jill. "your sister never did like you. Certainly not enough to send anyone after you."

"Then what do you think I'm doing here, Ink Face?" A wonderfully familiar voice floated out of nowhere before an invisible force threw the Alchemist to the ground. Once I knew what to look for, the figure behind that force became clear to me. And even though she'd once broken my heart, at that moment she was one of the most beautiful things I'd ever seen.


	2. Chapter 2

SYDNEY's POV

It might be a little odd to be so very excited to see your husband's ex-girlfriend, but that didn't even come close to topping the list of the weirdness that was my life. Rose had such a powerful personality, you tended to either love her or hate her. I certainly didn't hate her, and even if I did, she had just come to our rescue.

"What are you doing here?" Jill asked, before blushing in that adorable way she had. "I mean, obviously you're here to rescue us and thank you for that, but why did Lissa send you?"

"Lissa didn't send me," Rose said in a sharp voice, looking at all of us very meaningfully. "I was never here. Lissa and Christian are on a romantic getaway and Dimitri and I are with them."

I stared at her in confusion for a minute before comprehension dawned. The Moroi relied on the Alchemists to help them stay hidden from the human world. Recent events, most notably my marriage to Adrian, had strained that relationship severely. Lissa couldn't risk angering the Alchemists any more by sending a rescue party to one of their locations. Of course, she'd be perfectly within her rights to recover her sister and a royal like Adrian, but I had always been a sore spot between the two factions. Much better to handle it diplomatically, which could take weeks, if not months. Obviously, they hadn't been willing to leave us in the Alchemists' hands that long, for which I was grateful.

"So it's just you?" Adrian asked, looking around as though he were expecting more dhampirs to materialize in front of him.

"Just me," she replied with a grin.

I found it a little hard to believe that rescuing us had been a solo mission, but then, if I had to pick one person to sneak into a secure Alchemist facility and smuggle a group out, it would be Rose Hathaway. "What about the Stelle?" I wondered. I could still sense the magic that was clinging to her and though I couldn't be certain where that trace of human magic had come from, the coven I had joined was a pretty safe bet.

"They gave me the charm, but they're not here. And we shouldn't be either." With that, she made short work of our bindings and cautioned us all to be silent as we started up the steps to the exit.

We heeded her warning, though it didn't appear to be necessary. Along the way we passed at least a dozen Alchemists, all knocked out. "How did you get so many without breaking the invisibility spell?" I asked her.

"I um...wasn't invisible," she answered. Rose had learned to be content in Lissa's shadow and now appeared uncomfortable as we all stopped and stared at her.

"You could have snuck past them all with the charm," Adrian pointed out.

"Yeah, but I didn't know what shape you guys would be in. I didn't want to risk having to fight my way back out if you were hurt. Plus, I was saving the charm for when I needed it. I thought that guy down there with you might have a weapon and I didn't want to give him the chance to use it."

It was sound reasoning, particularly coming from Rose, but before I could compliment her on it she was whirling around. "Stay back," she warned, crouching into a defensive stance. Eddie immediately leaped in front of Jill.

I was expecting to see more Alchemists burst into the room, which would have been bad enough. Instead, something a hundred time worse entered. A pair of Strigoi.


	3. Chapter 3

ADRIAN's POV

I automatically pushed Sydney behind me when the evil, undead vampires entered the room. It was pure reflex, since I knew perfectly well that of the two of us she was more capable of dispatching Strigoi than I was. Even when I had my magic, spirit was only so much use in a fight. Those fireballs that Sydney was so good at were much more helpful.

Unfortunately, Rose closed with the Strigoi so fast that Sydney couldn't release any fire without risking her as well. Eddie's hand went to his belt and came up empty, the Alchemists having taken his silver stake when they captured us.

Fortunately, Rose didn't appear to need any help. I had heard of her reputation, of course, and even seen first hand the celebrity status that she now enjoyed, but I had never actually watched her fight before. And even though my heart fully and totally belonged to Sydney, I had to admit that my ex-girlfriend was an extremely hot badass.

I would have thought that fighting two adversaries would be a distinct disadvantage, but she didn't make it look like one. She was careful not to be caught between them and was actually pretty successful in using one to block the other's attack. She moved almost as fast as they did, a look of perfectly calm concentration upon her face.

I didn't even see her stake the first Strigoi. The whole fight was just a rush of motion to me, but then Rose's arm darted out, faster than anything else in the room and one of the Strigoi slumped to the ground. With the odds evened, she unleashed her full fury on her remaining opponent. She took a few hard hits without even flinching and then managed to drag her stake across the Strigoi's face. The monster recoiled from the pain, giving her the opening she needed to bury the weapon in its heart.

While the fight lasted it had felt like years were passing, but now that it was over I realized how quickly everything had happened. We all stood staring at each other, a little dumbfounded. A quiet suspicion in the back of my mind was trying to draw my attention, but Jill spoke before I could get a hold of it.

"What would Strigoi be doing at an Alchemist facility?"

"Alchemists would never work with them," Sydney replied immediately, "no matter how rogue they'd gone."

"Some humans would do anything for immortality," Rose pointed out.

"Not Alchemists," Sydney insisted. I wasn't sure if she truly believed that or if she was just driven to defend the last shred of decency the organization she had once devoted her life to had left.

"Alchemists don't have any wards like the Moroi do," I pointed out. "Maybe they're just tracking rogue Alchemists and waiting for their chance to take the captives." I had a bad feeling that there was more to it than that, though.

"We'll figure it out at Court. We have to get out of here." Rose turned to lead us out, although it seemed to me like she hesitated before stepping forward. "Come on."

As we emerged into the cool night air, I wished that Rose had come for us in the daytime. While the sun wasn't kind to me, it would have kept us safe from Strigoi attacks. My earlier thought suddenly clarified. "You knew that the Strigoi were there before you saw them," I said to Rose.

She turned to me sharply, her eyes wide and startled, but before she could reply her phone started throwing out all sorts of alerts. "Okay, okay, geez." She dragged her phone out of her pocket and checked the display. "Man, Dimitri must have really been worried about you guys. He's been bombarding me with messages. Guess I didn't get a signal down there."

She took a few steps away from us to listen to her voice mail. Eddie remained on the alert, though I was now fairly sure that Rose could tell if another threat approached. What I didn't know was how that could be when her bond with Lissa was gone.

"No, no, no, no, no, no!" We all whirled to face Rose as her voice grew into a scream. She broke into Russian after that, and I'm pretty sure she was swearing. She punched a few buttons on her phone, her face tight and drawn.

"What happened? Are you okay?" She gnawed on her thumbnail as she listened to the answer. "Any leads? I have Jill and the others. We're on our way back. It's not your fault...it's not. Hey, hey, Comrade! We'll fix this, okay? We'll get her back. Them. Both of them. I love you."

She hung up and turned to us, her face grave. "Lissa and Christian have been taken. By Strigoi."

We all stood there in shocked silence. "But...how?" Eddie finally asked. "Dimitri-"

"They wanted to go on a walk. Dimitri went with them, but he was lagging way back to give them some privacy. A van pulled up and a couple of Strigoi dragged them inside. They were gone before he could even reach them."

"What leads do they have?" Eddie demanded. "License plate? Where were they? How long ago-"

"I don't know!" Rose screamed. She clamped her mouth shut and took a deep breath, but it was enough to have us backing off. Lissa was more than Rose's charge. The two of them were even more than best friends. They were like sisters. I knew that this was Rose's worst nightmare, even worse than when Dimitri had been turned.

"Strigoi showing up where we were being held and Lissa and Christian taken. That's not a coincidence," Sydney said. None of us disagreed. "So we get back to Court," she continued, taking charge of the situation. "And we find them."

I nodded, thinking that would be best, but Rose hesitated. "I might be able to find her," she said, "but it won't work at Court."

I eyed her suspiciously. "You and Lissa aren't bonded anymore." I knew that much from watching their auras. Besides, that had worked just as well at Court as it had anywhere.

"No, we're not." Rose met my gaze slowly. "But I'm still shadow-kissed."


	4. Chapter 4

SYDNEY's POV

I wasn't entirely sure what the importance of Rose's statement was, but my mind instantly began whirling with possibilities. Despite Jill being my charge, I'd never thought much about what being shadow-kissed meant beyond her being bonded to Adrian. Adrian's comment about Rose knowing the Strigoi were there came back to me and I remembered that she could sense the undead.

She also had a connection to the truly dead, seeing as she was technically supposed to be one of them. I wasn't the only one who had reached that conclusion.

"Mason?" Eddie asked, his voice full of the pain that he still felt over losing his best friend.

Rose shared an equally pain filled look with him before shaking her head. "No, Mason doesn't really come see me anymore. I think he's moved on. Andre's the one I can always reach. And I'm sure he'll want to help this time."

"Andre?" I asked, the name vaguely familiar to me.

"Lissa's brother," Jill answered. She paused with a frown on her face and I wondered if she'd just suddenly realized that he was her brother too.

"Why him?" I wondered. It didn't really matter, of course, as long as Rose could get the information we needed, but I couldn't help wanting to know the answers to everything.

"Liss and I never really talked about it, but...he was a lot closer to my age than her parents. And those three were the ones..." Rose had to take a deep breath and it occurred to me that this wasn't easy for her either. "I was supposed to die with them. I did die with them."

"Okay, little dhampir," Adrian told her gently. "Do what you have to do."

Rose took a step back, looking at us uncertainly. No, I realized, at Jill. "I've never done this with another shadow-kissed person around."

Jill started to look nervous. "I couldn't tell the Strigoi were coming. And I've never seen the dead."

"It's because you're innocent," Rose told her. "The more you kill, the stronger it becomes."

For the briefest moment our eyes met and I could see the guilt in hers. Rose had killed more Strigoi than anyone else her age, and most of those older than her as well. That didn't bother her, but I knew that Victor Dashkov still haunted her. Not that he'd been innocent, but he had been a Moroi. The fact that Rose had been suffering from the darkness that she used to pull away from Lissa didn't entirely excuse her in her own eyes.

"Do you think I'll see them?" Jill was asking.

"I don't know," Rose answered. She looked at Eddie. "Maybe you should just take them back to Court and I'll do this after you're gone."

"No way," Adrian objected. "We're not leaving you here alone."

If I hadn't known just how much Adrian loved me, that might have bothered me a little. As it was, I agreed with him. "Just do it, Rose. We'll watch Jill."

Rose backed away from us a little ways and then turned to summon the dead.


	5. Chapter 5

ROSE's POV

When I'd told the others that I could always reach Andre, I hadn't been lying, but it wasn't like I did this often. I'd gotten pretty good at keeping my mental walls up to block the dead, but once they were down they could be a bitch to rebuild. With one last nervous glance at Jill, I called for Andre.

"Andre, I need help. Lissa needs help."

It took a minute for him to appear, like always. The others waited behind me, not moving, gazing out into the night as though they would be able to see him coming. When he formed, he looked the exact same as he had the night of the crash, aside from being a little washed out. With a jolt, I realized that I was older than him now. I wondered if that meant at some point I would reach his parents easier than him.

I had to force my first question out, I was so afraid of the answer. "Andre, is Lissa alive?"

He nodded, and I actually felt myself grow weak from relief. I didn't know that was a real thing. "And Christian?" He nodded again and that little spark of hope that had been wavering inside of me grew stronger. "Where are they?"

He pointed to the north. I tried to think of what lay in that direction. I'd actually gotten pretty good at geography, thanks to all my crazy travelling. We were on the outskirts of Denver, so not too far north of us would be "Wyoming?" I guessed.

He shook his head and I tried to picture a more detailed map. Maybe I'd gone too far. "Boulder?" I tried again. I could be there in less than an hour. But he shook his head again. "Nebraska," I made one last attempt, which again proved wrong. I couldn't do this all night. "Okay, you can't tell me where she is, but you can lead me to her, right?" Andre nodded.

"Here's what we'll do," I decided. "I'll go back to Court and-" but Andre was shaking his head violently and gesturing for me to come. "I know, but I need backup. I'll get help and then you'll take us to her."

He kept shaking his head and urgently gesturing to the north. Then he tapped his wrist and I realized what he was telling me. "We're running out of time." He nodded. "Okay, let me-"

Jill's screams suddenly pulled my attention off Andre. She was lying on the ground clutching her head. Eddie was shaking her, his face frantic. I ran to her, shoving Eddie out of the way a bit rougher than I meant to.

"Jill, Jill you have to block them." I tried to drag her hands away from her face, but it was like all of her muscles had locked into place. "Picture walls going up. There's a wall between you and them."

"Shadows, so many shadows. They say I have to go with them. I don't want to go. Please don't make me go." She latched on to my arms, her nails digging in painfully.

I didn't know what to do. When I had first started seeing the dead, they had left when I went back under the cover of wards. But I had no idea where the closest safe place was or how to get Jill there. Instead, I pictured the walls going back up, just like I always did when I banished the dead. Instead of putting them around myself, though, I pictured them around Jill.

I didn't even know it was possible to protect someone else like that until I tried it. It felt weird, kind of like how I used to try to block out Lissa's thoughts when we were still bonded and I didn't want to see what she was doing. I never did feel the walls go up properly, but they must have, because Jill suddenly stopped screaming.

And then I started. Apparently defending Jill from the dead left me vulnerable. Andre swooped in right on top of me, Lissa's parents right behind him. A whole host of the dead was swirling around me, some very well known, others just barely familiar. My head felt like it was going to explode. I could hear the others saying my name, but it sounded weird, like they were shouting underwater. I frantically scrambled to get my walls back up. I wasn't thinking about whether that would remove Jill's protection or not. I wasn't thinking, period. I just wanted the pain to end.

Finally, it did. My defenses snapped into place and the dead disappeared. I went limp on the ground, my chest heaving and my head pounding. When I could finally open my eyes, Jill was bending over me.

"I'm so sorry. I couldn't see anything at first. And then I saw these shadows, and I thought that one might be Andre. I just wanted to see him so I...reached somehow. And suddenly there were hundreds of them and they were all screaming at me and-"

"Hey, hey, easy." I sat up and gripped her arm firmly. "Breathe, okay? They're gone now. It's okay. We're both fine." If by fine you meant about to pass out from the worst migraine of your life. Since I wasn't in any real danger of dying, it was close enough in my book. I did think for a minute that I might throw up, but after I closed my eyes and breathed in and out carefully a few times, the worst of it passed.

I swallowed carefully, just to make sure that everything was going to stay down, before I tried talking again. "Eddie, I need you to take these guys back to Court."

"No!"

"Absolutely not."

"We're coming with you."

"You can't go alone."

They all protested so immediately I couldn't even tell who exactly said what. I seemed to have a knack for attracting friends who loved suicide missions. Probably why I fit in so well with them. Lovable idiots.

"Andre can't tell me where Lissa and Christian are," I explained to them, "but he can lead me to them. Jill can't come." Nobody argued with that. Even if her being shadow-kissed wasn't an issue, no one wanted her anywhere near Strigoi.

"So Eddie takes Jill back. Sydney and I will go with you," Adrian volunteered.

"No," I immediately objected. I actually wouldn't have minded taking Sydney, since her fire magic would probably come in handy, but Adrian would never let her go without him and I was way too much of a guardian to lead Moroi into a Strigoi fight. Bad enough Lissa and Christian were already there. "People are still upset about taking trained fire users into fights," I told Adrian. "It would be so much worse to take a spirit user who can't fight."

He didn't look happy about it, but I think he recognized the stubborn look on my face. "Fine," he said tightly. "We'll go back to Court."

"But we can get ourselves there," Jill told me. She was holding Eddie's hand, but after a last squeeze she let it go. "At least take Eddie."

I knew that she really wanted to come, but she wasn't going to waste time on an argument that I would never let her win. Smart girl. But I wasn't going to compromise here either. "We just fought two Strigoi. There is no way I'm letting you cross the country without a guardian."

"You can't bust Lissa and Christian out all by yourself," Eddie said.

"Busted you guys out, didn't I?" I pointed out with a grin.

"Rose." I never would have expected to hear that reasonable tone coming from Adrian. He had somehow become responsible, and I had a feeling that Sydney had more to do with that than the pills he was on.

"When you get back to Court, tell the guardians what happened. All I know right now is that I'm headed north. When I have a more exact location, I'll call it in." I could tell that they weren't happy about these arrangements, but they weren't willing to waste time fighting me on it either.

"Don't do anything until more guardians arrive," Eddie said sternly.

I thought of Andre tapping his wrist impatiently. "I'll wait as long as I can," I promised.

With a few last warnings, the others turned and started walking west, back into Denver. Jill turned back and threw her arms around me. "Get them back," she whispered.

I returned her hug. "Don't worry," I assured her, "I have a plan."


	6. Chapter 6

ROSE

I hadn't been driving long (amazing how stealing a car didn't bother me when I was on a mission to save Lissa) when my phone rang. I glanced at the readout and then took a deep breath before answering. "Hey, Comrade."

"Rose. Come home." Man it was hard to refuse him anything when he asked so softly, his Russian accent barely perceptible.

"I can't. I have to follow Andre."

"So I heard. Jill and the others are on a plane home. What I want to know is why aren't you?"

"You already know why if you've been talking to Jill." I felt a little bad that she'd called him first. I'd meant to, honest. I just hadn't gotten around to it yet.

"I can't believe Eddie left you there alone."

"What would you have done? Left two defenseless Moroi to make their way home alone after a Strigoi attack? They come first, Dimitri." Like I had to remind him of that.

"Not always." A heavy beat of silence hung in the air. Dimitri tried to break it. "And I would hardly call Jill and Adrian defenseless, particularly when they have Sydney with them."

"More defenseless than me. You know nobody can touch this." I flashed my man-eating smile, even though I knew he couldn't see it.

"Stop grinning like that. This is serious." It's scary, sometimes, how much he gets me. And at the same time it's the most wonderful thing in my life, having someone who understands me this well.

"I'm taking this very seriously, Dimitri. I have to go to Lissa."

"I know. But you have to promise to call me as soon as you know where she is. And you have to wait for more guardians to arrive before you do anything."

"Andre says we don't have much time." I glanced over at my ghostly passenger, but he was staring straight ahead. "I promised Eddie that I'd wait as long as I could, and I will. But I can't let anything happen to Lissa."

"At least tell me this plan you have."

"I don't really have a plan. I was just saying that to Jill to-" my phone beeped, drawing my attention to the low battery. "Damn it."

"Roza? What is it?"

"I might not be able to call you when I get where I'm going," I told him.

He sighed heavily. "You forgot to pack your charger again."

"I kind of left in a hurry," I defended myself.

"What was this plan?"

"The plan was to call you and wait for backup." My phone beeped again, a persistent reminder that backup was no longer an option. "I'm not sure what I'll do now. Think you could see my smoke signals if I lit a fire?"

"Roza, please don't do anything stupid."

"Thanks for the vote of confidence, Comrade. Don't worry, I'll be home in time for dinner." Or breakfast, or whatever. I didn't even know what schedule I was running on right now.

"I love you."

"Love you too, Comrade." My phone gave one last beep and then died. I resisted the urge to throw it out the window. "Looks like it's just you and me now," I told Andre.

He turned and frowned at me. "What? I didn't lie to him. I don't have a plan." He gave me that annoying, older-brother-knows-better look that he'd perfected before he died. Seeing it again made my heart squeeze painfully. "It's not a plan, okay? It's just an idea. A really crazy, stupid, bad idea." And it all depended on Christian remembering a conversation we'd had several weeks ago.

_I'd been watching the Moroi who wanted to fight train and I commented to Christian that they were looking pretty good. _

_"Good enough for Lissa and I to have a weekend alone sometime?" he asked._

_I laughed. "Not that good."_

_"Come on, you don't think that I could keep her safe?"_

_I didn't think that anyone could keep Lissa as safe as I could, especially not a Moroi, even if he could light things on fire. Guardians spent their entire lives learning how to fight. "You honestly think that you could get her out of a Strigoi attack?"_

_"Of course I could." When I just stared at him, he turned defensive. "Hey, I got us out of that basement, didn't I?"_

_I winced a little at that. We'd gotten ourselves out, but not Mason. "We got lucky. What are the chances that you'll be in another situation where they'll stand there and watch you burn the restraints off?"_

_"I'd just have to wait until they weren't watching."_

_His unshakable confidence was starting to annoy me. I wondered if this is what it was like for others when I started on my Rose logic. "If anyone ever gets a hold of the queen of the Moroi, they're not taking their eyes off her for a second," I told him._

_He shrugged, "I'd just have to wait for a distraction."_

I hadn't been able to convince him how wrong he was, and I kind of hoped that he still thought he could do it. Because unless the Strigoi were holed up right next to a payphone, there wasn't going to be any backup from Court. It was going to be up to the three of us to perform a daring rescue. For the millionth time I reached down to make sure the other charm I'd gotten from the Stelle was still in my pocket. It was a crazy, stupid, bad idea. But it just might work.


	7. Chapter 7

ROSE's POV

I pulled my phone out of my pocket, checking the display. Yup, still dead. Not that I expected anything else. I may be shadow-kissed, but my phone wasn't. So here I stood, in the middle of nowhere, a pack of Strigoi nearby, and no payphone in sight.

No anything in sight, really. Even if my phone had been working, I don't know what I would have told Dimitri. I'd crossed into South Dakota abut an hour ago, which was the closest I could come to pinpointing my location. Andre had steered my down smaller and smaller roads until finally motioning for me to stop the car and hike up into the mountains. I now appear to have reached my destination. And I had no clue where that was.

On the bright side, literally, the six hours it had taken me to drive here had me arriving in sunlight, so I didn't have to worry about being ambushed by Strigoi. But that was about all I had going for me. I hadn't even really found Lissa. As I hiked up the path Andre had indicated, I passed all kinds of caves. The perfect hiding spot for a pack of Strigoi with some royal captives. But how was I supposed to know which cave they were in?

Then I saw Andre. I kind of lost him when he had me stop the car and get out. He was really hard to see. I didn't know if that was because the sunlight made him extra watery or if I was just losing my grip. I'd never kept my walls down this long before. And while I was managing to keep the other shadows at bay, it took a lot of effort. I knew I was going to have to banish all of them pretty soon. And then I really would be alone.

Andre was holding his finger to his lips and beckoning me forward. I crept towards him, lying down on my belly to wriggle up over the final peak and look down where he was pointing. All I saw at first was more caves, and then a hint of movement caught my eye. There, right below me was a sentry. A human, obviously, to be out in the sunshine. As much as their service to the Strigoi disgusted me, at the moment I was grateful for it. He would be much easier to capture and question.

As I moved myself into position, a few rocks were knocked loose and rolled down the hill. If I'd been ambushing a Strigoi, that probably would have cost me my life. The man below me barely had time to turn around before I was landing on top of him.

It was almost laughably easy for me to get him pinned. I had my stake out and over his heart in a flash. It was the only weapon I had and it was just as effective at killing humans as it was Strigoi. Though I really hoped it didn't come to that.

"Where is the Moroi Queen?" I demanded.

He didn't answer at first, but when I put a little pressure on the stake he broke. "Inside!" he gasped.

Okay, I didn't actually have to ask that. But at least he was talking. "And the other prisoner?"

"With her."

"What do you want with them?"

"M-M-Master wants to awaken the queen. Says it'll be an even bigger triumph than killing her."

I wondered what I looked like just then to make a man who willingly served Strigoi stammer in fear. Probably like I was about to kill him, since that's how I felt. But I managed to pull my anger back in somewhat. "Is he turning both of them?" Since Christian's parents had voluntarily turned Strigoi, he'd sort of become a target for a lot of them.

"No. He's to be her first kill."

I knew that Lissa would suffer the tortures of hell before she hurt Christian, but that was my Lissa. Once she'd been turned, she'd feed off anybody. "But they're both still alive?" I tried to keep the panic out of my voice.

"Master isn't here yet. He has to wait for nightfall. Then he'll awaken the queen and march out to show the world what he can do."

I glanced at the sky. Still early morning. So I had most of a day to sneak into a cave full of Strigoi, free two closely watched prisoners and then get somewhere safe before enemy reinforcements showed up. Piece of cake.

I clubbed my prisoner on the side of the head, knocking him out. I used his belt to tie his hands behind his back and then lugged him to the top of the hill I'd used to ambush him. I didn't really want to hurt him, but I couldn't leave him in front of the cave. As gently as possible, I rolled him down the other side. He came to rest at the bottom, a little bruised and scratched, but mostly okay. I hoped.

I scrambled back down the other side and looked at Andre. "This is it. I wish I could take you with me, but I really need to focus. Don't worry, I'll get her out."

He gave me a small smile and a thumbs up. I wasn't entirely sure I should head into a fight with good luck from a dead guy, but I appreciated the thought. After so many hours of letting the dead walk with me, it was extra hard to put my walls back up. Andre kept flickering in and out of sight, like a TV with bad reception. Finally I felt the barriers snap into place and he disappeared. The headache slammed into me like it always did, but it didn't even take that much effort to ignore it. Lissa needed me. Nothing else mattered.

I crept into the cave and made my way forward as quietly as possible. There were a lot of twists and turns, which I guess made sense. The Strigoi wouldn't want to risk accidentally stepping into some sunshine. I tried not to think about the last time I'd stormed a cave full of Strigoi. It wouldn't end that way this time, I promised myself. I wasn't going to lose anyone I loved today.

I rounded a final bend and jerked back sharply. The passage widened into a large room, and it was full of Strigoi. I took another quick peek and counted. Maybe the room wasn't exactly full, but it did hold 9 Strigoi. With only one of me, it might as well have been 900.

Lissa and Christian were tied up off to the side. They weren't on the opposite side of the cave, which was a good thing, but they were still too far away for me to risk sneaking over to them. I backed down the passage way a little and considered my options. The jacket I was wearing had been charmed by Christian to supposedly protect me from flames. And I had a lighter in my pocket. But we hadn't gotten a chance to actually test the charm yet, and starting a fire in here was too big of a risk until Christian and Lissa were untied.

I pulled out the other charm I'd gotten from the Stelle and hung it around my neck. Jackie had told me that it would change my appearance, based on whatever image I had in mind when I recited the incantation. The less I changed, the stronger the illusion would be. Since I was actually changing very little, I hoped it would be very strong. I closed my eyes and pictured them turning red as I muttered the Latin incantation.

I felt a warm tingling which I assumed meant the spell had taken effect. I ran my tongue over my teeth. Still felt flat. I wish I had a mirror. My skin had gone deathly white, which was really the only proof I had that it had worked. Trying to ignore the voice that told me I was committing suicide, I stepped into the cave.


	8. Chapter 8

ROSE's POV

Nobody noticed me at first, which was sort of anticlimactic. I stood there feeling like an idiot and wishing that I'd tried sneaking in. I was debating what my first move should be when Lissa saw me. "Rose!" she screamed.

I could read it all right there in her face. Disbelief, fear, rage, despair, and a bone deep pain that I hated knowing I had caused. But it told me what I needed to know. I looked like a Strigoi.

"Your Highness," I swept a mocking bow as everyone in the cave whirled to face me. "I'm afraid that my little rescue mission didn't go as smoothly as we planned. Although," I held up my hands as though admiring them. Seeing that sickly pale skin made me want to run out of there screaming, but I held it together. "It turns out there are benefits to losing." I smiled and she recoiled. Sorry, Liss.

"How did you get in here?" one of the Strigoi demanded.

"You mean past that pathetic human guard?" I sneered.

"I mean past the sunshine." He was eyeing me suspiciously.

Right. Good question. How did I do it? I lifted the charm around my neck slightly. "A little present from my first victim. Sydney sends her regards by the way," I told Lissa. She was looking at me oddly, staring hard at the charm I held.

She met my eyes and I could tell that she saw through my disguise. Sometimes I wondered if we weren't still bonded. I mean, I knew we weren't, but she could always read me so easily. That disbelief and fear were still there, though now she was scared for me, not of me. Christian continued to stare at me like I was a monster.

"You drank from a human witch?" another Strigoi asked.

I turned to face her with a smart comment ready, but just in time I remembered what Sydney had learned about her blood. "Of course not. She tasted disgusting. But her neck made such a lovely snapping sound when it broke." I sighed as though remembering fondly. My mind was racing. I had to get things rolling before I gave myself away. But Christian still hadn't figured out what was happening.

"But your blood is delicious, isn't is, Lissa?" My friend cringed backwards, either playing the part well or unable to bear the thought of Strigoi biting her, even knowing it was an illusion. "Oh, come on, you're not going to give me a taste? And after all the times I gave you blood. What are friends for?"

"You cannot drink from her," the Strigoi nearest me said.

"I really think I can," I replied. "With the number of times I've saved her life, it should belong to me now."

"She's not to be killed," he growled.

"Of course not," I scoffed. "I'll awaken her. How 'bout it, Liss? We can be best friends forever."

The same Strigoi grabbed my arm. "She is the Master's."

This was it. "Excuse me, Lissa," I said, even though it was Christian I was looking at. "I have to take care of this distraction, and then I'll get back to you." I put a little extra emphasis on the word distraction.

Comprehension finally dawned on him and he gave me a barely perceptible nod. I snarled and lunged at the Strigoi holding my arm. As I'd hoped, all the others were fully engrossed in the fight. I couldn't spare a glance to check on Christian, but I trusted that he was making the most of his opportunity.

I didn't really have a chance of winning this fight. I couldn't pull out my stake without giving myself away. And I had no hope of killing this guy with my bare hands. He was too preoccupied, or maybe just too stupid, to smell the dhampir in me, but I didn't count on that lasting long. I also didn't have a true Strigoi's speed or strength. That might not tip them off about me, since I was supposed to be freshly turned, but it wasn't helping me win either.

All in all I thought I was holding my own pretty well, but then he managed to slam me against the wall and my head cracked into the rock. I saw him lunging for my throat and barely managed to get my arm up in time to block him. Too late I felt the teeth dig into my skin and realized my mistake.

He leaped back, taking a chunk of my arm with him. "Dhampir!" he cried, spitting out my blood. If I hadn't been so distracted by my imminent death, it would have been really gross.

I figured this was the end for me, but I wasn't done yet. At least now I could use my stake. Before my opponent recovered from his shock, I whipped it out from under my jacket and drove it into his heart. One down, eight to go. Not good odds.

In that split second before everyone descended on me, I heard Lissa screaming my name, but her voice came from down the tunnel. No doubt Christian was forcibly dragging her out of here. Good for him. They should have a clear path to outside and then they would have almost a full day's head start before the Strigoi could chase them.

To tell the truth, I was kind of glad to be alone in the cave at that point, because my badass reputation wouldn't have stood up to the beating I took. The fact that there were so many Strigoi probably worked out in my favor, surprisingly, because they were getting in each other's way in their feeding frenzy. I managed to land a couple of hits, but mostly I just got tossed around like a rag doll. I screamed as two of them pulled in opposite directions and my left shoulder got wrenched out of place.

I could feel their nails raking my skin, and, in a couple places, their teeth. Those bites hurt. If they were thinking, they'd have given me more endorphins, since I knew from experience that once you were high off a vampire bite you stopped fighting. On the other hand, maybe they just didn't care if I fought or not. It's not like I was going to win.

One of them kicked my knees out from under me and I hit the ground hard. Something was digging into my hip. I accepted the fact that I wasn't getting out of there. But I could make sure that they didn't turn me. Fumbling the lighter out of my pocket, I set my jacket on fire.


	9. Chapter 9

ROSE's POV

I know it sounds stupid, but I wasn't expecting it to be so hot. I mean, I just lit myself on fire, obviously there was going to be some heat. But I was thinking along the lines of stick your hand in an oven hot. This was more like jump into a volcano hot. Not that I'd ever actually done either of those things.

For a second I was afraid that Christian had somehow done the charm backwards, but then I looked closer and saw that even though the jacket was covered in flames the material didn't seem to be burning. I wondered how long that would last. This was supposed to be a protective jacket in case somebody's aim was a little off during a Strigoi fight. It wasn't meant to resist a sustained burn.

In the time it took me to catalogue all of this, the flames had started to leap off of me and onto the nearest Strigoi. Those who had been right on top of me went up like torches. Immediately they all stopped fighting to get to me and instead started pushing away.

I hadn't thought beyond saving myself from being turned, but as they all backed away from me I saw my opportunity. I was not going to lie here and quietly burn to death. If I was going to die, I at least wanted to see the sun one last time. I leaped to my feet and started for the entrance in a shambling run. A couple of Strigoi blocked my path, but they barreled aside as I got closer.

I rushed down the passage way, already fighting to get the jacket off. As soon as I got out into the sunshine I flung it away from me. Everything hurt so much I couldn't even tell if I was still on fire or not. I stopped, dropped, and rolled just to be safe. Mostly, actually, I just dropped. I hadn't made it very far from the cave entrance, but I was far enough out that the Strigoi wouldn't be able to reach me until the sun set. By that time I'd be very dead.

I found that more comforting than scary, which was a good indication of how far gone I was. At least it would be too late for them to turn me. And I figured being dead couldn't hurt as much as lying here did. Plus Lissa was safe, which meant that no matter what else happened, all was right in my world. I had done it; I'd gotten her out. Content with a job well done, I closed my eyes and waited for Andre to come get me.

* * *

I woke up, which was a big surprise to me. As I lay there getting my bearings there was something familiar about my surroundings that I couldn't quite put my finger on. I slowly realized that my head was lying in someone's lap. I had a pretty good idea whose, and sure enough, when I opened my eyes I saw Lissa staring down at me.

"Rose," she breathed, a smile stretching across her face. "You're alive!"

I was glad she cleared that up, because I honestly hadn't been sure. "Where are we?"

"Right now? Somewhere over Illinois, I think. We're on a private jet taking us to Court."

I picked my head up enough to take a look around. Yup, luxury royal jet, as promised. It wasn't too bad having a queen for a best friend. Christian was sitting across the aisle from us. "You're insane," he told me.

"You're welcome," I muttered, dropping my head back down into Lissa's lap.

She smoothed the hair back off my forehead, her touch gentle even as she chastised me. "He's right, you know. That was one of the craziest things I've ever seen. And I've been your best friend my whole life."

I tried not to take offense at the implication in that. "No crazier than Alchemists working with Strigoi."

"From what we overheard in the cave, they aren't actually working together," Lissa told me. "The Strigoi fed Sydney and Adrian's location to the rogue Alchemists as a diversion. They figured we'd all be focused on getting them back which would give them an opportunity to snatch me."

I frowned. That was quite the plan. I'd have to hunt this Master guy down and take care of him. "And we practically served you up to him on a platter," I grumbled.

"It wasn't your fault," Lissa said soothingly. "You couldn't have possibly guessed this was all part of a convoluted plot."

"I should have," I insisted. "Convoluted plots are my specialty."

"Quit blaming yourself." She tried to make it sound like a royal command, but I never had a problem ignoring authority. "You sound like Dimitri."

At the mention of the love of my life I groaned out loud. "Man, he's going to be so pissed at me."

"I'm not very happy with you, either," Lissa said, even though she was still smiling at me. "That was beyond reckless, even for you."

"I had to. You were in trouble."

She looked down at me in understanding for a minute before I decided our Hallmark moment had gone on long enough. I lifted my arms up to study my wrists. "Not a burn mark on me. Good work charming that ja-" I caught Lissa's guilty look and cut off abruptly. "You healed me."

I didn't mean to sound so accusing, but we'd agreed that she'd only use spirit when it was life and death. And yeah, I'd been in pretty bad shape, but we'd also agreed she'd only patch things up enough to get me to a doctor. I took the time for a quick self analysis, stretching and flexing my muscles experimentally. A little stiff, a little sore, but definitely not fresh from a fight to the death with 9 Strigoi. "You completely healed me."

She didn't even pretend to look sorry. "I had to. You were in trouble."

I sighed. Hard to argue with that. And it wasn't like I wanted to be covered in third degree burns and Strigoi bites. Lissa went back to stroking my hair. "Go to sleep, Rose. We'll have a lot of work to do once we land at Court."

She had a point. I took her advice and closed my eyes. Maybe someday we'd know what is was like to lead a quiet life. Until then, we'd take turns saving each other.

* * *

**Hey, guys, thanks for all the reviews! I know that some of you wanted to see Rose turned, but not today. I do have some ideas for that. They'll just have to wait for another story. Cheers!**


	10. Epilogue

**Hey, guys! I'm working on a follow up to this story now. But people were asking for this, so here's one last scene to wrap this part of the story up. Thanks for the reviews. You guys are great! Cheers!**

* * *

ROSE's POV

Even before the plane landed, I could see the tall figure in a long duster waiting for us. I turned to Lissa. "What does he know?"

"That we're alive."

I sagged in relief. "Thank goodness."

"Rose," Lissa gave me a light shove. "You have to tell him."

"Tell him what? You're alive, I'm alive, we're all home. One big happy ending."

"If you don't tell him, I will."

"Come on, Liss." I was a little ashamed of how whiny my voice sounded, but I couldn't stop. "You just healed me. Do you really want to have to do it again?"

She laughed at me. "You're the only person I know who can face 9 Strigoi without fear and then be too scared to tell her boyfriend about it later."

"I'm not scared," I denied. The plane landed and Dimitri began making his way forward. I was out the door and in his arms as soon as the steps were wheeled up the plane. He swung me around in a wide circle, laughing in that happy, free way that I so rarely got to hear from him. He set me back down to give Lissa a hug and then started patting down Christian as though to make sure he really was okay.

He turned back to me with a huge smile. "You did it!"

"Of course I did," I pretended to sound insulted. "Don't tell me you doubted me?"

"Never," he declared. "You probably just marched right into the middle of the whole mess and demanded that they release their prisoners."

Lissa and Christian both stared pointedly at me. There was an awkward moment of silence as Dimitri's face became serious. "Roza..."

"That's not exactly what happened," I managed to say.

"Then what did happen?" he asked softly.

"Well, you know...I followed Andre into the mountains, staked a couple Strigoi, made our escape. Not much to tell really."

"Except the part where she pretended to be a Strigoi," Lissa added helpfully.

"Oh, and the part where she lit herself on fire," Christian chimed in.

"And then we found her lying in the dust-"

"Okay, guys, chill," I interrupted. "You're making it sound worse than it was." Dimitri was looking at me expectantly and I knew the best thing to do was get it over with. "Look, this is all I did." Taking him back to the beginning, I went over everything. I realized about halfway through that it didn't sound any better that way. Still, I finished it out.

When I ended with me running out of the cave, all three of them just stared at me, dumbfounded. "Well, go on," I told Dimitri. "Share you zen master words of wisdom with me."

"There are no words for what you did," he replied.

"I can think of a couple," Christian said snarkily.

"Christian," Lissa shot him a warning look before turning back to me. "I'd better go make an appearance so everybody knows I'm alive."

"Look at that," I jumped at my escape. "Court business. I'll just-"

"Not you, Rose," Lissa said. "You've had a rough couple of days. Just go home and rest up."

"I'm fine, really," I protested. When she just shook her head at me I tossed my pride out the window and threw myself on Christian's mercy. "You know, Christian's had a rough couple of days too. He'd probably feel a lot better if his guardian stuck close-"

"Forget it, Rose," Dimitri told me. He grabbed my wrist and started tugging me back to our apartment. I followed along docilely. It might be too late for damage control now, but it was worth a shot.

"The first thing you need to do is call your mother," he ordered.

"Call..." That was unexpected. "My mother?"

"Everyone is going to hear about this," he pointed out. "You need to make sure she knows you're safe before the rumors get too wild."

"Can't be as wild as the truth." The words slipped out before I thought them through. Damn, I was supposed to be downplaying this whole thing.

He stalked into our apartment ahead of me and went straight to the window, staring out over the fountain outside our building. I studied his back, wondering what he was thinking right now. Maybe if I apologized we could avoid the worst of the lecture. "Look, Dimitri," I laid my hand on his shoulder.

He whirled around and grabbed my waist, pulling me into a hot kiss. Well, if _this_ is how he wanted to lecture. I ran my fingers up into his hair.

"Roza," he muttered against my lips, "Roza, you can't imagine how much you frighten me."

"I'm here now," I told him. "And actually, that jacket thing worked pretty cool. If Christian could make more of them-"

Dimitri cut me off with a soft kiss and then rested his forehead on mine. "You're going to be the death of me, Rose."

I grinned up at him. "But what a way to go, huh Comrade?"

He laughed and hitched me up so that my legs wrapped around his waist. I nuzzled into his neck as he crossed into our bedroom.

"I thought I was supposed to call my mother," I reminded him.

He dropped me on our bed. "Call her later."


End file.
